Lens: Psychoanalytical
"At other times I would tell myself that it was all a question of attitude, that there was really nothing wrong in being moved to distraction by girl-children. Let me remind my reader that in England, with the passage of the Children and Young Person Act in 1933, the term "girl-child" is defined as "a girl who is over eight but under fourteen years" (after that, from fourteen to seventeen, the statutory definition is "young person"). In Massachusetts, U.S., on the other hand, a "wayward child" is, technically, one "between seven and seventeen years of age" (who, moreover, habitually associates with viciousor immoral persons). Hugh Broughton, a writer of controversy in the reign of James the First, has proved that Rahab was a harlot at ten years of age. This is all very interesting, and I daresay you see me already frothing at the mouth in a fit; but no, I am not; I am just winking happy thoughts into a little tiddle cup. Here are some more pictures. Here is Virgil who could the nymphet sing in a single tone, but probably preferred a lad's perineum. Here are two of King Akhnaten's and Queen Nefertiti's pre-nubile Nile daughters (that royal couple had a litter of six), wearing nothing but many necklaces of bright beads, relaxed on cushions, intact after three thousand years, with their soft brown puppybodies, cropped hair and long ebony eyes. Here are some brides of ten compelled to seat themselves on the fascinum, the virile ivory in the temples of classical scholarship. Marriage and cohabitation before the age of puberty are still not uncommon in certain East Indian provinces. Lepcha old men of eighty copulate with girls of eight, and nobody minds. After all, Dante fell madly in love with Beatrice when she was nine, a sparkling girleen, painted and lovely, and bejeweled, in a crimson frock, and this was in 1274, in Florence, at a private feast in the merry month of May. And when Petrarch fell madly in love with his Laureen, she was a fair-haired nymphet of twelve running in the wind, in the pollen and dust, a flower in flight, in the beautiful plain as descried from the hills of Vaucluse. "
Image by Stephanie Sinclair, 2005
In this passage, Humbert explores the legality of the ages of young girls. He points out that the age pools of young girls is muddled due to one definition of young girls being over eight yet under fourteen, and the other definition being "between seven and seventeen". It's interesting that Humbert chose to include both these definitions but can be explained why he did when thinking of the morality of the situation. When thinking of a relationship between an adult male and an underage female, how are we to judge what ages deems the relationship immoral when the ages of young females are pooled into such large gaps? What deems a relationship of an adult man with a seventeen year old girl more acceptable than a relationship of a man with a twelve year old girl. Obviously both situations are not alright yet Humbert chose to include these different words that defines a young girl to the audience, or the jury, to invoke these questions, for them to challenge their own morality before his and to question, how are we to judge what is okay and what is not. He explains that the girls described with these ages are not uncommon to be found in situations such as child marriages or acting as what he calls "nymphets", which means an attractive and sexually mature young girl. He uses these situations as sort of an excuse, "if these other men were attracted to 'girl children' then why is it wrong for me to feel similarly?"
What might or not might be a fault in his explanation is when he mentions Dante falling in love with Beatrice as she was nine in May. Assuming he is speaking of Dante and Beatrice Portinari, Dante had in fact met and fallen in love with Beatrice when she was nine, but he was only a year older than her at the time. The age dynamic is completely different because in this situation, the attraction is between two children, not
a child and an adult.
This might not be going to far from the point in his defense, however, because looking deeper into this reference of Dante and Beatrice, it can be compared to the love between Annabelle and Humbert. Dante fell in love with Beatrice at first sight and stayed in love with her even after taking the hand of another man in marriage. Beatrice had passed away four years after her marriage, yet Dante had still been fixated on her and dedicated many of his works in her memory. This is similar to Humbert falling in love with a young girl as he was young, yet when she passed became fixated on young girls years and years after, possibly because her memory lives on in other young girls.
What might or not might be a fault in his explanation is when he mentions Dante falling in love with Beatrice as she was nine in May. Assuming he is speaking of Dante and Beatrice Portinari, Dante had in fact met and fallen in love with Beatrice when she was nine, but he was only a year older than her at the time. The age dynamic is completely different because in this situation, the attraction is between two children, not
a child and an adult.
This might not be going to far from the point in his defense, however, because looking deeper into this reference of Dante and Beatrice, it can be compared to the love between Annabelle and Humbert. Dante fell in love with Beatrice at first sight and stayed in love with her even after taking the hand of another man in marriage. Beatrice had passed away four years after her marriage, yet Dante had still been fixated on her and dedicated many of his works in her memory. This is similar to Humbert falling in love with a young girl as he was young, yet when she passed became fixated on young girls years and years after, possibly because her memory lives on in other young girls.
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